Originally Posted by
Zomar
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I'm 20 years old. I've never crashed the same way twice since I started biking daily in September, but I've had a large number of crashes. So far I've...
-Slipped in railroad tracks.
- fell over at 0mph when stuck in toe clips several times.
- been T-boned by a taxi at 5mph when I ran a red light (it came out of a blind spot.. but that's no excuse).
- slipped on black ice my first day of bike commuting ever.
- got blown over by a gust of wind when riding no handed.
- and now... crashed from a pothole/rut during the rain.
...
I don't think I'm a very reckless rider, ...
What are your thoughts after reading this? ...
-Slipped in railroad tracks.
reckless in that you didn't realize hazard and it's reckless not to err on the side of caution. Now you do, probably won't happen again.
- fell over at 0mph when stuck in toe clips several times.
DOESN'T COUNT!!! Although "several times" makes me go hmmmmm. We've all done it, some of us a couple of times, some a few times. If you really mean several, well, what can I say but slow learner
- been T-boned by a taxi at 5mph when I ran a red light (it came out of a blind spot.. but that's no excuse).
Your fault, entirely preventable. I really doubt you'll put yourself into this position again - you'll be better at actually thinking ahead, being aware of possibilities, being totally defensive, etc.
- slipped on black ice my first day of bike commuting ever.
again, reckless in that you didn't realize hazard and it's reckless not to err on the side of caution. Now you do, probably won't happen again., but this can also just happen to anyone, just bad luck. Just be careful in icy conditions or get a mtb bike and put studded tires on it.
- got blown over by a gust of wind when riding no handed.
Your fault, reckless in that you didn't realize hazard. Now you do, probably won't happen again.
- and now... crashed from a pothole/rut during the rain.
like the ice, reckless in that you didn't realize hazard. Now you do, probably won't happen again, but this can also just happen to anyone, just bad luck, but can reduce liklihood to almost nil by just being aware and more careful.
Well you're a little reckless, running red lights, not being defensive enough, but experience turns recklessness into intelligent safe choices. Crashes = experience, years on the bike = more careful and knowlegable. I firmly believe that virtually all crashes can be avoided by thinking ahead, experience and care. I probably haven't crashed in 25 years and often avoid simple hazards that cause other cyclists to crash. For example, just the other day, we were making a fairly slow turn from one road to another (90 degrees). The intersection had some residual loose gravel from winter. I knew enough to not only go very slow, but to also go straight ahead when actually passing through the gravel. I even yelled a warning. My partner, much less experienced, knew enough to slow down, but didn't know enough to avoid turning on that part, and he went right down on his hip. He will never do it again.